Waxing On The Car Wash: Rookies

I’ve been a Talent Producer for nearly three years here at ESPN. I absolutely love what I do.

On April 19, we had two NFL prospects come in studio for the Car Wash — Alabama’s 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram (in photo above, right) and the multi-talented defensive end from Clemson, Da’Quan Bowers (left).

Last week, running back Ingram became a New Orleans Saints first-round pick; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Bowers in the second round.

Unlike most of the Car Wash guests I’ve seen, each arrived with a very small crew.

Mark Ingram came in with his marketing agent, Fadde Mikhail. Da’Quan came in solo, but had a special surprise performance for SportsCenter with a loaner guitar; he had to leave his guitar “Denise” at home.

Mark was here to announce that he was on the new cover of EA Sports NCAA 12. His cover looked great and I know he was thrilled to represent EA. He was a class act and it was a blast working with him. He was amazed at how big our campus was.

Da’Quan also was a pleasure to work with. He started on Mike & Mike and worked his way through each interview with a big smile. When the various shows’ producers heard that Da’Quan was playing his guitar — he’s a big fan of Jimi Hendrix — everyone wanted to add that into their show’s segment. He’s very talented.

Their schedules overlapped at lunch and at the end of the day for NFL Live.

It was nice to be around two NFL prospects who are low key, have great heads on their shoulders and ready to play at the next level.

The next time either comes to ESPN, he will be paving the waves for the next draft class.